2 XII (4.45 p.m. Warsaw time) Adam Łajtar (UW), A new piece of evidence in an old question: A Greek inscription from Tafah and the Christianisation of Nobadia

The subject of my presentation will be a Greek inscription painted on a wall of the church arranged in the so-called south temple at Tafa (Lower Nubia). Until quite recently, the text was known only through an imperfect facsimile made in 1819 by Franz Christian Gau, a French architect of German origin. Gertrud van Loon managed to identify among papers of an English aristocrat William John Bankes a much better facsimile of the inscription in question, made towards the end of 1818. Thanks to this facsimile, it is possible to establish that the inscription came into being on the occasion of the consecration of the church after its renovation. Retrospectively, the text mentions two further events: the original consecration of the church and the introduction of the Christianity to Nobadia, and gives the name of the then reigning king. Thus, it contributes considerably to a much debated question of the Evangelisation of Nubia.